Coowner Tag

PARIS — Yon-Ka Paris’ Françoise Mühlethaler has died. A biochemist by training, she and her sister, Catherine Mühlethaler, an aesthetician, reinvented and ran the skilled skincare brand that was created in 1954 by brothers Ernest and Charles Mühlethaler, plus Ernest’s wife Cécile. “A prolific, creative mind with infinite imagination, Françoise Mühlethaler explored many horizons, including a love of nature, science and aesthetics,” Yon-Ka said in a press release. “Her motto led her: ‘In the event you imagine in something, do it.’” She believed in international expansion, helping launch Yon-Ka abroad in 1970. The brand reached markets resembling Belgium, Holland, Scandinavia, Asia and Canada by the mid-’70s and arrived within the U.S. in 1987. “Despite facing various challenges, Françoise propelled the brand internationally and made...